"Mottled Brown"

"Mottled Brown"

For today's prompt, I want you to write a poem about an object (or objects). Though you don't have to confine yourself to straight up description, I do want you to focus on object and/or make it a central piece of your poem. One of the more famous poems of contemporary literature does this wonderfully in William Carlos Williams' "The Red Wheelbarrow."

“Mottled Brown”

Ages ago, hungry fingers
search lustily for a story book
in a forgotten cupboard.

They find,
No, easier to say -

I find
a mottled brown hardcover copy
of Maugham’s The Razor’s Edge.
My fingertips still carry the memory
of the binding’s grainy texture.
On the first page, my father’s signature,
Like a bird in bold flight.
My heart still bears the impress
of Larry’s healing touch,
his endearing freshness….

I turn
the yellowing pages
(their sickly pallor is okay by me)
that beg for a gentle touch
lest at the edges they crumble

I lose
the book
my lovable companion
with an unappealing look.

I wait
and wait
to re-find the book
I sense
its pages might crack now
at an indiscreet touch

If by some glad chance
I find it,
with its aging spine
and sad pages,
I’ll hold it to my heart
and then …
within it I’ll place
an embroidered bookmark
with cherries red and luscious
surging with sap
full and audacious.

Why this, you may ask
To intuit the answer,
feel it, is your task.

“The sharp edge of a razor
is difficult to pass over…”
Look into your heart.
All is inscribed there
my winsome rover.